Ramucirumab for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma – second line

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer and occurs mainly in patients with underlying chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Advanced (metastatic) HCC occurs when the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or to other organs. HCC can produce markers that can be detected by a blood test. One of the markers produced by HCC is called alpha fetoprotein (AFP). AFP level can reflect the tumour responsiveness to treatment. The cancer medicine, sorafenib is the recommended first line treatment option for HCC. However, some patients may not respond to this medicine or they may be intolerant to it and may require other treatments (second line).
Ramucirumab is being investigated in clinical trials as a second line treatment for patients with advanced HCC who have elevated baseline AFP, and also in patients who are either intolerant to sorafenib therapy or whose HCC progressed following treatment with sorafenib therapy. Ramucirumab is given as intravenous (IV) injection and acts by preventing tumour growth by slowing the formation of new blood vessels which supply the tumour cells with blood. It is already approved for the treatment of certain types of advanced cancers such as stomach cancer, colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. If licensed, ramucirumab may offer a new second line treatment option for patients with advanced HCC who have elevated baseline AFP and have not responded or are intolerant to the first line treatment.

Twitter

Related Information

Download Full Article

Related Posts

bb2121 is in development as a treatment option for relapsed and refractory MM. It is based on genetic therapies and targets the growth of specific proteins present in most MM cells. bb2121 is administered by injection and the unique way it acts may offer an additional treatment option for relapsed and refractory MM patients who have tried and failed to respond on current therapies.

Lisocabtagene maraleucel (Liso-Cel) is a therapy that uses the patient’s own cells to fight the cancer. Healthy white blood cells are taken from the patient’s blood and re-programmed to fight the cancer cells in DLBCL. When these cells are returned to the body, the programmed cells act by tracking down and destroy the cancer cells. If licensed, this therapy would provide a new kind of treatment for patients whose DLBCL has come back after previous successful treatment (relapsed) or where the disease has not responded to previous treatment (refractory). This therapy also has the potential to improve patient treatment by being available in an outpatient setting when compared to similar treatments that have to be administered in a hospital/specialist setting.

Inhaled Lipid‐complexed Cisplatin or inhaled liposomal cisplatin (ILC) is an anticancer drug being developed for the treatment of osteosarcoma that has reoccurred and spread to the lungs. Cisplatin is already available in the UK as an intravenous injection for treating multiple types of malignant conditions. ILC is administered via inhalation has the potential advantage to deliver the drug directly to the site of action (the lungs) with significantly reduced systemic side effects and toxicities.

Darolutamide is a hormonal drug under development for castration resistant prostate cancer that has not spread (non‐metastatic). It acts by blocking testosterone receptors from getting activated on the cancer cells and consequently reducing the size of the cancer.